This disclosure relates generally to ferroelectric devices and interconnects and their methods of manufacture, and, more particularly, to all-organic ferroelectric thin film devices and interconnects, and their methods of manufacture.
Ferroelectric materials are characterized by spontaneous polarization in the absence of an electric field, which is reversible upon application of an electric field lower than the breakdown field. Ferroelectric materials are used for various electronic devices, such as electric capacitors, piezoelectric devices, optical modulators, storage media, memory devices, and the like.
Memory technologies can be broadly divided into two categories: volatile and non-volatile. Volatile memories, such as SRAM (static random access memory) and DRAM (dynamic random access memory), lose their contents when power is removed while non-volatile memories, which are based on ROM (read only memory) technology, do not. DRAM, SRAM, and other semiconductor memories are widely used for the processing and high-speed storage of information in computers and other devices. In recent years, electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROMs) and flash memory have been introduced as non-volatile memories that store data as electrical charges in floating-gate electrodes. Non-volatile memories (NVMs) are used in a wide variety of commercial and military electronic devices and equipment, such as hand-held telephones, radios, and digital cameras. The market for these electronic devices continues to demand devices with a lower voltage, lower power consumption, and a decreased chip size.
Flexible electronics have recently attracted considerable attention due to their range of applications, for example, smart cards, biomedical sensors, and foldable antennas. To realize these applications, the development of flexible non-volatile memory devices for data storage or radio-frequency transponders (RFID) is required. Most flexible nonvolatile memory reported to date that comprises organic materials is based on small molecules and organic polymers because of their good mechanical flexure characteristics. However, a low degree of crystallinity and thus low conductivity, even of semiconductive polymers associated with these classes of materials, result in relatively low performance of the as-fabricated devices. Accordingly, there is still a need for materials and methods for the manufacture of organic, ferroelectric-based devices and interconnects. It would be a further advantage if such devices and interconnects were flexible.